It Doesn't Matter Who's Watching
by EchoResonance
Summary: After high school, what can Kyo do but take Tohru with him? (Short, sweet, unplanned story :3 I hope you'll approve of the third story in the Watching series)
1. Thread of Fate

_**This story will be more of a set of drabbles, set after "When You Know Everybody's Watching". After all, I had no plans originally to make a third chapter to the tale, but since all you guys wanted a little more, I thought I'd try and oblige.**_

Kyo never thought he would survive until graduation, but being with Tohru made it surprisingly easy, and even—dare he say it?—enjoyable. The Junishi curse, he now knew, had begun to fade, freeing one after the other of the Sohmas until they were free, and Akito had, ahem, come out to everyone that _he_ was actually a _she_. It meant the most to Kyo—the fading curse, not Akito—who had more to fear even than Yuki did if the curse had continued strong. But now that it was gone, there was nothing at all for him to be afraid of once he received his high school diploma. He sat with the rest of his class, holding Tohru's hand tightly—he had bribed the person that _had_ been beside Tohru to switch places with him—and even smiling a little.

The two of them had long gotten used to the stares of their peers when they held hands. Shocking everyone who heard, Kyo had been the first to come out openly about he and Tohru, much to the general astonishment of the class. After all, Kyo _dating_? He had treated girls like a contagious disease upon his enrollment at their school, never getting within arm's reach if he could help it, and all of a sudden he was going out with one? Of course, no one but Tohru and Sohmas knew the reason for his avoidance of anything female.

"Ready, Tohru?" Kyo said in his low voice. She looked at him curiously, tilting her head like a puppy.

"For what?" she wondered. Smiling, Kyo pointed at the students all around them, their hands holding their graduation caps readily.

"They're getting ready to throw their caps," he answered, reaching up for his own.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, taking her cap in her hands at once.

"Wait for it…" he muttered. One of the students in the next row up was counting down. "Wait for it…Now!"

Dark blue graduation caps flew into the air, a huge swarm that for a moment blotted out the sun. As his cap left his hand, Kyo felt something inside him breathe for the first time that he could remember. He was free. There was no cell waiting for him now that his cap was in the air. There were no more disgusted eyes waiting for the horrible cat spirit. He was free to take Tohru and leave, go somewhere far away and never come back to the Sohma residence. And that was exactly what he intended to do.

As the caps began to rain back down on them, Kyo pulled Tohru in close, and pressed his lips over hers, holding her without restrictions as he had been able to do for so long now, and yet every time felt just as shocking as the last. He would never turn into a cat again, never become that revolting monster that sickened everyone around it.

Someone near them cat-called, and another whistled loudly, but neither of them cared. There was only each other, and the knowledge that they were free to control their own futures from that point on. Futures that would be forever linked, twined together with thread as red as the blood in their veins.


	2. The Greatest Gift

"It's not much," Kyo muttered, scratching the back of his head. "But it's the best we can do right now. Unless you want to stay with Sensei a little longer."

"Kyo-kun, it's perfect," Tohru cried happily, looking at the modest one-story structure.

The small house was surrounded by thick trees that were just turning colors with the approach of autumn. Somewhere in the area a stream trickled over a bed of smooth stones, and birds chirped in the trees. There were hoof prints in the dirt down one of the many trails leading away from the house, probably one deer in a herd of them. The building itself was only a two-bedroom structure, with one bathroom, a modest entryway, and a rather cramped kitchen. Entertaining guests was clearly not high on the builder's priorities, but that didn't bother Kyo, who was not what one would consider a "people-person". Still, he knew that this might bother Tohru, who loved surrounding herself with friends and family. But looking down at her radiant smile, Kyo thought that he had done well. They were still within driving distance of a town miles away from the Sohma house, and they had working electricity and plumbing. It was quaint, but it served its main purpose: being a home for the two of them to share.

Kyo reached out and tucked Tohru under his arm, guiding her up the stairs onto the little porch, and handed her the key to the front door. She took it, still smiling, and unlocked the door. She had to jiggle the doorknob a little, but it opened with minimal trouble onto the empty living room.

"I asked Shigure to bring our things from the house," Kyo said when he noticed her looking at the empty floors. "He'll be here in a couple of days. Until then we can stay in a hotel in town or—"

"Here," Tohru interrupted.

"Uh, there's no furniture, Tohru," Kyo pointed out. Tohru shook her head.

"Let's stay here tonight," she insisted. "You had an air mattress in the car, right?"

"Well, yeah, in case of emergencies," he answered, a little bewildered. "But I don't have any blankets or—"

"It still warm out," Tohru said. "And I'm never cold with you. We should stay here tonight, Kyo-kun. Just…just for the experience."

Kyo smiled down at her and gently brushed his fingers over her cheek bone. He'd taken to making those little gestures without even realizing it, but they seemed so natural to him now that he couldn't even get embarrassed.

"You're really excited about this, aren't you?" he said softly, a little surprised.

Tohru nodded fervently, and then tugged him inside, going to explore the rest of the house.

"I'm going to get the air mattress," he chuckled while she played with the fixtures in the bathroom.

When he came back inside, kicking the door shut because his arms were full with the box for the queen-sized mattress, Tohru was in the "master" bedroom. It was the master simply because it was bigger than the other one, and connected directly to the bathroom, but there was nothing fancy about it. There wasn't even a wooden chair to serve for furniture. The previous owners had really stripped the place bare. Even so, Tohru stood in the center, surveying everything with such an air of amazement that she might as well have been standing in a palace, looking at the finest four poster bed and mahogany writing desk.

"Oh, Kyo-kun," she murmured when she saw him come in. "It's beautiful."

"It's all dusty and junk," he said at once, but he knew she didn't care. It was theirs. That was more than enough for Tohru, and her being there was more than enough for him. She would always be the greatest gift he had ever been given.


	3. I Do

It wasn't big. There weren't many guests. Flowers weren't exploding from every surface. The dress didn't have a train that was a mile long. But that was okay, because the presentation didn't mean near as much as the people themselves.

On one side of the white-carpeted aisle, the entirety of the Junishi sat, smiling broadly. Momiji had grown up considerably, but he was bawling just like a baby before the music even started. Next to him, even Hatsuharu couldn't look entirely bored, although that might have been due to the slender, well-manicured hand he held. Rin was smirking up at Shigure, who stood at the altar looking very uncomfortable in a crème-colored suit but nonetheless quite happy. Hatori sat in the front, next to the surprise guest: Akito herself, dressed nicely in a white yukata and wearing a rather authentic-looking smile.

Tohru's side was almost empty, as a good portion of her family had little to no respect for her and probably hadn't even glanced at the invitation she had so kindly sent before they threw it away. Her grandfather was in the back, getting ready to give his granddaughter away—the old badger refused to die until he had seen dear Kyoko's daughter married—and one of her cousins sat in the front, eyeing Momiji curiously. A few friends from college and her new job were there as well, but Hana and Uotani were in the back, as was Yuki. They were helping a certain bride-to-be finish getting ready. Other than Yuki, two more Sohmas were absent from the group. Little Kisa, and Hiro, who had their own jobs to do.

Already standing at the end of the aisle was a tall, lean man whose features had matured fully, but whose wild orange hair had yet to be tamed by a comb. Kyo Sohma looked smart in his crisp white tuxedo, helped considerably by his well-tanned skin, but he also looked like he was about to be ill. His knees were knocking, his palms were sweating, and his face was pale. His heart pounded in his throat, and his stomach was somewhere near the soles of his feet. He would never have expected to feel _this_ nervous at a wedding of all places. Many times he had wondered what the big deal was, and he'd even made fun of Yuki for daydreaming about having one of his own when they were in high school. However, now that he was the groom in the wedding, and everything was happening because of his burning need to make Tohru completely his, he kind of understood everything he'd ever heard about wedding jitters.

Something so huge had sprung from such a small, delicate little circle of gold.

"Momiji," Kyo heard Hatori murmur. "It's time."

Momiji stood and pulled a small black violin case from beneath his chair, carefully taking the beautiful instrument from the interior and checking the tuning meticulously. Satisfied, he took the violin and the bow and moved to stand beside the altar, where a music stand had already been put in place. As he passed Kyo, he made sure to nudge the former cat with his elbow. Kyo was too nervous even to glare at the younger man as he prepared to play.

Momiji raised the instrument. He readied his bow. He fixed his eyes on the sheet music on the stand. He began to play. And the doors at the back of the small church groaned open.

Kyo looked back, he couldn't help it. And when he did, he had to smile just a little. Uotani and Yuki were at the head of the precession, arm in arm as the maid of honor and the best man. Behind them, little Hiro who wasn't so little anymore was walking stoically, determined to prove his maturity even after all this time, holding a little velvet pouf in his hands with two gold bands resting on it. Next was Kisa, almost as tall as Kyo's waist now and wearing a poufy white dress. In her little hands she held a white basket, and was sprinkling red rose petals on the floor, smiling like it was the most fun thing in the world. Then Tohru entered the room, and Kyo forgot what exactly was supposed to be happening.

Tohru, sweet, clumsy Tohru was wearing a beautiful white dress, with off-the-shoulder sleeves overlaid with lace, and a corset-style bodice. The skirt had just a little bit of volume and an overlay of white lace like the sleeves. Hana was holding Tohru's train, and looked so happy that she might cry, but Kyo didn't care about Hana just then. His eyes were only for Tohru, just like always, and he couldn't tear them away. Her face was glowing, those big blue eyes shining so brightly as they looked at him that his heart began to pound faster for a reason other than nerves. Suddenly, he was ready. Sure, he was still scared, but as long as the promise of Tohru being with him forever was there, he was more than prepared to fight that silly fear.

What happened after that, he wasn't entirely sure, but he would always remember sliding that ring on her finger, and making her completely and irrevocably his for as long as they both should live.


	4. He Really, Really Was

Years passed. Kyo and Tohru grew old together. They still kept in touch with the Sohmas, visiting and being visited quite often, but they were also content to have time to themselves. Kyo had finally, _finally_ gotten over his annoyance and embarrassment at being called grandpa by their beautiful grandchildren, just in time for them to get used to calling him Kyo. Even in his old age, he still just couldn't win some battles.

Tohru was possibly even more cheerful than before, and played with the little ones often with Kyo snapping behind her to be careful because she was likely to break a hip. But of course, he just couldn't be mad at her.

"Tohru, are you happy?" he asked as they sat on the porch swing. Once upon a time, he had would have said that such an image was too damned cliché and stupid, and he would never ever have planned on being part of it. He still thought it was cliché, but he didn't mind that quite so much anymore. Growing old had made him so lame.

"Of course, Kyo-kun," his wife chirped, leaning into him and tightening her little wrinkled hand on his.

Kyo leaned his cheek on her temple, nose twitching when one of her thinning gray hairs tickled his nose. He still had moments like that, where he was almost catlike, but it had been a very long time since he had been anything at all but human, and that alone was enough to make him happy.

"I'm glad," he said, and he stroked her knuckles with his old hand, still strong despite his age. "I'm glad."

"What about you, Kyo-kun?" Tohru asked.

"Me?" he repeated.

"Mmhmm," she said. "Are you happy?"

He smiled, and kissed her forehead.

"Yeah, Tohru," he answered softly against her skin. "Yeah, I am."

And he was. He really, really was.

_**Yep, short and kinda sweet. I hope I didn't let you guys down, but I just didn't originally plan on making a third part. Since you guys wanted more, I did my best, but I had nothing planned out, so…yeah…I still love you all! Please review!**_


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